Support
Aja Couchis Dennis writing on a white board

In an environment that calls for a combination of thoughtful and urgent collaboration, and deep relationships, we guide individuals, organizations, and networks, to move swiftly and intentionally toward love, dignity, and justice together.

Change Elemental energizes, convenes, and supports networks of changemakers working toward love, dignity, and justice, so that they can thrive over time.

With Change Elemental, networks driven by changemakers across issues, movements, and sectors find authentic ways of generating power greater than the sum of their parts. We build network capacity to be more nimble, flexible, and adaptive in their culture, structures, roles, and strategies. We foster alignment grounded in shared values, long-term commitment to building trust, and using generative tensions to nurture authentic relationships. We also work with groups to function effectively within a networked ecosystem by deepening their practices around the elements critical for advancing justice, with particular attention to the practices of cultivating a leaderful ecosystem.

Central to our approach is supporting networks to connect across divides, overcome habits and practices that hold us back, and re-make strategies and systems together to ensure the well-being of all. We facilitate processes for networks to center equity as they define and advance network goals, principles, strategies, and norms, including drawing on the many ways we make meaning of the world to surface, include, and transcend differences. We coach network members to be systems and equity thinkers and doers who can navigate power dynamics and conflict in healthy and healing ways.

Offerings

  • Support networks in their formation and initial structuring, including grounding in shared values, authentic relationship-building, equity, strategy development, and managing tensions and conflicts
  • Develop the mindset, skills, and habits of effective movement network leaders operating at the intersection of network and organization
  • Facilitate convenings, support committees, strengthen relationships, and engage members
  • Clarify the relationship between your foundation or organization and the networks you support
  • Clarify leadership, staff, and member roles within networks
  • Create plans for collective resource fundraising
  • Coach and build the capacity of individual network leaders
  • Support networks throughout pivots in purpose and endings
  • Foster capacity to advance equitable systems change efforts, including addressing intersecting constituencies, issues, and geographies
  • Catalyze funder learning and action in movement networks

“I imagined us huddled together determining how best to organize our work on mutually agreed upon policy objectives or something to that effect. Ha! I believe what actually happened was so much more meaningful. I was able to develop genuine relationships with my new sisters by DEEP HANGING OUT. This happened through ceremony, movement, art and food.”

Vincent M.
Vince Marquez, smiles at the camera, wearing a blue button up and brown tweed blazer